Manchester United Vs. Athletic Bilbao: Where to Watch Live Stream, Team News, Preview, Prediction

When and Where: The Europa League round-of-16 tie kicks off from Old Trafford at 3.05 p.m. ET. The match is being shown on DirecTV. If you're in the U.K. you can watch a live stream at Channel5.com.

Preview: In spite of their recent good league form, Manchester United welcome Athletic Bilbao to Old Trafford looking to improve on a dismal home European record this season. Following their 1-0 defeat at Ajax in the previous round of the Europa League, United have won just one of their four home matches in Europe this season.

We need to waken up, there's no question about that. Some of our European form has been disappointing, United manager Sir Alex Ferguson said, according to the club's official Web site.

I don't know if it's because we're making too many changes in these games. Certainly against Ajax in the second leg we did that.

But tomorrow I'm playing a strong team and I hope that makes a difference.

United's opponents on Thursday, Athletic Bilbao, are currently one of the most attractive and fascinating teams to watch in Spain. Led by their tactically innovative and always offense-minded coach, Marcelo Bielsa, Bilbao currently sit in fifth place in La Liga.

Much of the attention is likely to focus on Bilbao's trio of Spanish internationals; Javi Martinez--who has recently been linked with a move to United--Iker Munian, and striker Fernando Llorente.

Team News: United will welcome back midfielder Anderson for Thursday's clash, with Ferguson confirming that the Brazilian will play some part in the match. Paul Scholes should also be involved, despite sitting out training on Wednesday. Chris Smalling is expected to return to the heart of the United defense after recovering from a head injury sustained while playing for England last week.

The match comes a little too early for Tom Cleverly and Antonio Valencia, though the pair should be in contention for the second leg.

For Bilbao, defender Fernando Amorebieta will be suspended after being sent off during his side's last Europa League encounter, against Lokomotiv Moscow. This could likely mean that Javi Martinez drops back from his usual midfield position into the center of the defense.

Bilbao will, though, welcome back midfielder Ander Iturraspe, after he missed the club's 2-0 victory over Real Sociedad at the weekend.

Predicition: With Ferguson looking set to pick a near full-strength side, this has the making of an attractive match. His counterpart, Bielsa, will certainly be looking to get what could be a crucial away goal at Old Trafford and United will have to guard against giving up possession to Bilbao's high-pressing game in the home side's defensive third.

But, while United could also be susceptible to the aerial prowess of Llorente, Bilbao's own injury problems in defense mean that the Red Devils should take an advantage back to Spain in a week's time.

Manchester United 2-1 Athletic Bilbao